I Pioneered Scientific Magic - Chapter 510 (Patreon)

Chapter 510: Your Probabilistic Theory is a Blasphemy to Demonology!

Lynn's explanation was succinct, but the assembled wizards remained skeptical.

The experiment before them could only be described as eerie, with all changes occurring only after Lynn had activated his domain!

Even those who trusted Lynn as the Star of Magic, like Raphael, couldn't help but harbor a doubt—could it be that someone had tampered with the experiment's results? Although no one voiced this concern, Lynn could tell from their expressions and spoke generously once more.

"The controller of the magic network can only be me, but it doesn't matter who executes the domain!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lynn withdrew his domain. He knew that unless each of them tried it for themselves, no one would believe such an illogical phenomenon could actually exist.

The moment the domain disappeared, the wizards in the hall were freed from their intense perception of the electromagnetic field.

Instead of hurriedly activating their domains, they all turned their attention back to the experiment.

The fluorescent screen changed again, the two streaks formed by light points gradually dissipated, replaced by nine interference stripes, reminiscent of zebra crossings.

"That mysterious interference has started again?!" Sanchez felt like his soul was terrified, his whole person unwell.

"Particles are transmitting along a wave path..." This bizarre sensation completely defied common sense, making one's scalp tingle.

"Let me try it," Harof said gravely, being the first to activate his domain, followed by Lynn linking everyone's perceptions within the magic network.

The trajectory of the electrons became orderly again...

They behaved like normally accelerated particles, passing through the slit and landing on the photosensitive screen behind.

Yet, this normalcy became the abnormal in everyone's eyes. Harof's domain lasted for a minute before he stopped, falling into deep thought, then Victorio and Aurora each took their turn.

"This time it's my turn..." "I don't believe this!" "Let me try too!"

After the Council members, other great wizards personally conducted the experiment, but the electrons played a bizarre game of hide and seek with them, with the photosensitive screen constantly changing.

"Could it be the influence of the domain!" Alade couldn't help but speak up.

He suspected that there might be something in the void that could affect the particle's trajectory after they activated their domains, causing this power to disappear.

"No, it's not the domain. In fact, before conducting this experiment, I've tried with other instruments, like installing detectors behind the two slits, and the results did not change!" Lynn directly refuted Alade's guess.

Choosing to activate the domain was merely to make the observation clearer for the wizards.

"What then is affecting the trajectory of the electrons?" Aurora asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, it might be... observation!" Lynn replied seriously.

Observation?

Lynn's answer completely surprised everyone present, including Raphael, who almost pulled out his beard in disbelief before hesitantly confirming.

"Are you saying that because we were observing the electrons, they behaved like particles, and if we don't observe, they suddenly turn into waves?"

"No, to be precise, in the absence of observation, it simultaneously possesses both wave and particle characteristics..." Lynn corrected Raphael's words. "I call this the wave-particle duality of quantum mechanics!"

"Ridiculous, how can something be both a particle and a wave?" A great wizard angrily interrupted, clearly offended as if his intelligence had been insulted.

The wizards in the great hall struggled to comprehend this so-called wave-particle duality; their brains simply couldn't imagine such an existence.

"This wave is not the mechanical wave you understand. I call it the probability wave!" Lynn explained.

The so-called probability wave refers to the likelihood of a microscopic element appearing at a certain point in space at a certain time, like an electron passing through a slit. It could land anywhere on the photosensitive screen, though more likely within an interference stripe area.

However, this only applies when unobserved. Once a domain is activated and the position of the electron at that moment is confirmed, the electron then proceeds along the determined trajectory, landing at that specific point.

"That's just too..." Under Lynn's explanation, Sanchez's face twitched continuously, struggling to find the right words, and finally managed to mutter through clenched teeth. "Incredible!"

Lynn's mention of probability waves, even more bizarre than wave-particle duality!

It's like telling you that there's an animal that can switch between the forms of a fish, horse, donkey, eagle, and other species, possessing all their characteristics, capable of flying when needed, and swimming when necessary...

But just by looking at it, its form becomes fixed. What can run can't fly, and what can fly will drown if it goes into the water.

This is more fantastical than a story, no, it's simply preposterous!

"Forgive my bluntness, Council

or Lynn, but I cannot agree with your theory of probability... The laws of this world must certainly follow clear patterns, which we just haven't found yet." Jeffrey stood up passionately, his voice initially subdued but quickly growing louder and almost roared.

"There's simply no such thing as probability in this world!"

From the motion of objects to the orbits of celestial bodies, all follow specific rules without exception!

This is almost the fundamental logic of magic!

After all, wizards' powers come from observing, summarizing, and replicating these rules, using magical mimetics to recreate them!

For example, when they use magic to attack an enemy, as long as they confirm the enemy's distance, direction, and speed, they can calculate the trajectory of the attack and hit the target one hundred percent of the time.

Now, according to Lynn's theory, the very microscopic particles that make up the world's foundation rely on probability to determine their position, making it a complete unknown whether the enemy is alive or where they can be hit in the absence of observation!

Jeffrey simply couldn't accept such a ridiculous argument!

The wizards present also had similar thoughts; this was more than just undermining the foundations of magic—it was a blasphemy to demonology!

"No, you're wrong, this world certainly does rely on probability, and quite a bit..." Lynn pulled a coin from his pocket and tossed it into the air.

"For example, a coin tossed into the air without any tampering or magical interference has nearly a fifty percent chance of landing heads or tails."

"But no matter what, until it's completely observed, anything could happen!"

As the coin spun in mid-air, it captivated the gaze of all the wizards, and as it fell, Lynn quickly cupped his hands around the coin, shielding it from everyone's view.

"Can you guess which side is facing up now?" Lynn asked with a smile.

The tens of thousands of official wizards in the hall pondered.

Is it heads or tails?

No, it could be either...

"Of course, it's heads!" Jeffrey asserted confidently, interrupting the others' thoughts. Despite the hundreds of meters distance between them, his exceptional eyesight allowed him to clearly see the trajectory of the coin's descent.

"Are you sure?" Lynn asked again. "How sure are you?"

Jeffrey opened his mouth to say he was ninety-nine percent sure, but then realized that would mean falling into the Star of Magic's trap, so he stiffened his neck and said. "As long as you haven't moved it by any means, I'm one hundred percent certain it's heads!"

He trusted his eyes, and even more, his judgment...

However, Lynn shook his head in disappointment and moved his hands away. "Unfortunately, you guessed wrong!"

Guessed wrong?!

Jeffrey looked puzzled as he watched,

The coin had landed right in the middle of the table, between two wooden planks forming a slight gap!

"I forgot to mention, it also has a very small probability of standing upright!" A clear smile appeared on Lynn's lips.

Jeffrey's eyes widened in disbelief, suspecting the Star of Magic might have used some trickery at the last moment, but he couldn't voice it because there indeed was a possibility the coin could stand upright!

Lynn smiled and said nothing more, pocketing the coin. As he had promised, after tossing the coin, he hadn't interfered in any way.

But this naturally wasn't due to luck!

His luck wasn't that good!

In fact, from the moment the coin was tossed, its fate had been determined.

Because he had chosen a trajectory and angle that would land it in the gap, so its destiny had been fixed from the start.

Tossing the coin, he was not only the observer but also the one pushing fate...

In that moment, Lynn felt he had understood something, and his grasp of quantum theory deepened a bit.

Though Lynn had used a coin to illustrate the concepts of probability, choice, and possibility, it was clearly not enough to dispel the doubts of the wizards.

"It's not the same, it's not the same! If everything in the microscopic world is probabilistic, uncertain, then how do they form the macroscopic materials? If I don't look at a flower on the ground, does it disappear?" Sanchez said, utterly confused.

The other wizards also brought up various examples to counter the argument, and the great hall quickly became noisy.

Fortunately, they didn't understand concepts like idealism and materialism; otherwise, they would have accused Lynn of dangerous idealistic thoughts, demanding criticism!

"Regarding how microscopic materials form relatively stable macroscopic materials, that's a question worth delving into," Lynn nodded, not going into a lengthy explanation, as releasing all his points at once would likely make it even harder for the wizards to accept.

Lynn only stated that these issues would be discussed in his forthcoming book, "The World of Probability—Quantum Mechanics."

"Everyone, I need to remind you of one thing—our

 understanding needs to match the fundamental logic of the world, not the other way around!"

"This is very important!" Lynn stated emphatically.

The macroscopic world is definite and rule-based, making it especially difficult to understand the laws of the microscopic world.

The so-called probability waves and probability clouds are incredibly counterintuitive but are undoubtedly one of the fundamental logics of how the world operates.

There was once a great scientist, a prominent figure in the field of quantum mechanics, who refused to believe that the world was probabilistic, but undoubtedly, he was proven wrong. Whether it's the federation's centuries of in-depth research and multiple innovations in the microscopic realm, or the numerous scientific achievements regarding quantum mechanics, they can all attest that the world is indeed as bizarre as it gets.

No, in a sense, it's even more bizarre than anyone can imagine!

"Alright, Councilor Lynn, let's pause the discussion on probability waves for now and talk about it later!" Harof suddenly interjected, halting the debate about probability waves.

It wasn't that he didn't want to delve deeper; in fact, these legendary wizards were the most affected!

Next to him, Aurora's body trembled like a wave, almost disintegrating, although she eventually stabilized, her complexion turning poor.

She had lost the ability to convert energy into her body.

Or rather, Aurora didn't dare use this ability anymore, lest she couldn't be sure if her body would disintegrate or become a probability mass?

Victorio wasn't much better off; the deeper he thought, the more he questioned the essence of magic.

"Compared to probability waves, I'm more curious about the second question," Harof slowly began, his voice trembling slightly. "How do electrons know we're observing them?"

As he spoke, the entire great hall fell into a deathly silence.

They had been so caught up debating the probability waves that they had indeed overlooked a very crucial, and even more terrifying, question—how did electrons realize they were being observed, thus collapsing into a single particle?

Alade had thought it was due to the influence of magic within the domain, but Lynn had already ruled out this possibility.

Did this mean that microscopic particles possessed self-awareness, able to detect their observation, thus changing their form...

Thinking this, a chill ran up Alade's back.

An elemental wizard suddenly seemed to have thought of something and exclaimed in terror. "I know, it's the elemental spirits!"

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